Michael Kors offers £896m to walk away with Jimmy Choo
MICHAEL KORS, the US handbag maker, has made an offer to snap up luxury shoe brand Jimmy Choo in an £896m deal.
The proposed sale of Jimmy Choo follows an auction process that was kicked off in April by majority owner JAB Holdings, the investment vehicle of the wealthy German Reimann family, which owns a near68pc stake in the Londonlisted company. JAB has recently been shifting its focus away from high-end goods and towards its interests in coffee and sandwiches after sealing billion-dollar takeovers for Douwe Egberts coffee and US bagel chain Panera Bread.
Michael Kors has made the move for Jimmy Choo after losing out in a takeover tussle with Coach to buy accessories firm Kate Spade earlier this year. It is the New York-based fashion company’s first takeover since listing in 2011. Michael Kors is offering 230p a share, a 36pc premium compared to the 168.5p share price the day before JAB announced it would launch a formal sale process. Jimmy Choo floated at 140p a share in 2014.
JAB has undertaken to vote its shares in favour of the takeover, which would be structured as a scheme of arrangement, which requires 75pc of shareholders to approve the deal.
Jimmy Choo’s management, which own 1.55pc of its shares, have also given positive undertakings.
It is understood that China’s Hony Capital had shown initial interest in making a bid, as it eyed up the potential for expanding Jimmy Choo in Asia.